About

The Center for Diabetes Technology (CDT) was originally established in 2010 in association with the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences Behavioral Sciences, Endocrinology, and the School of Engineering, and during 2017, was formally established as an independent Center. CDT has pursued a path to advance the use of technology, including analytics, to allow improved management, monitoring, and therapies for patients with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). Now, CDT is a recognized world leader in the technological treatment of diabetes and a hub of an international research network of leading U.S. institutions (Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Mayo Clinic, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine) and worldwide groups in Italy, France, Holland, and Argentina.

Moving Forward: Diabetes Data Science

Building on the PrIMeD Project and utilizing the technology of several domestic and international trials involving decision support systems or artificial pancreas systems, the ultimate goal is to establish a new scientific discipline– Diabetes Data Science. This new scientific discipline will bridge genetic information, electronic health records, real-time monitoring of physiological and behavioral parameters, and automated control of diabetes. The immediate objective towards this goal is to create and pilot an innovative Diabetes Data Science paradigm – the Virtual Image of the Patient (VIP) – which will allow an in silico image of each patient to be built in a database, initialized with the individual’s genome, and then updated with physiologic and behavioral phenotypes. To achieve this goal, CDT aspires to expand their research portfolio through collaboration with other UVA researchers across previously unrelated disciplines.

Moving Forward: Industry Collaboration

Building on the translational background in Type 1 diabetes, CDT aims to grow the clinical and industrial translation of VIP technologies to improve the management, monitoring, and therapies of diabetes for a larger population of people to include patients with Type 2 diabetes (T2D). This can be made possible through continued partnerships within UVA academics, expanded partnership with affiliate healthcare institutions, and the development of academic-industry relationships. Through affiliations with industries, particularly those associated with T2D decision support systems and new medications, CDT can contribute their expert knowledge in technological therapy of T1D to further advance the treatment of diabetes.

Research Contributions

Over the years, CDT has made many significant contributions in the management, monitoring, and therapies for patients with Type 1 Diabetes, including advanced analytics allowing individualized risk assessment, real-time prediction and prevention of acute events such as hypoglycemia. These advancements include the most comprehensive to date in silico model of the human metabolism – the only model accepted by the FDA as a substitute to animal trials in the testing of diabetes treatments, and the first portable artificial pancreas system. Translation of science, creation of intellectual property, and the development of academic-industry relationships are, and will continue to be, central to CDT, as proven in projects moving forward.

The Virginia PrIMeD Project

During 2017, a significant project was introduced at UVA under the direction of CDT, entitled: Precision Individualized Medicine for Diabetes – The Virginia PrIMeD Project. In brief, the Virginia PrIMeD Project can be described as a comprehensive framework built upon the research, clinical, educational, and technology‐transfer experience at UVA to create a unique and comprehensive process encompassing all aspects of T1D, from detection of genetic risk and markers of disease onset, through optimal maintenance and control of T1D via the artificial pancreas, to investment in a cure derived from future immunotherapeutic solutions